The Evolution Of Management: A Scientometric Study

Management is an active discipline during the history of science studies, its theories retread continuously and emerge in endlessly. Harold Koontz, an American authority on management, has divided all management theories into 6 and 11 schools according to their research methods and opinions in 1960s and 1980s respectively, and which dominant the management academic field. The practice guides the theory is a distinguishing feature for the development of management disciplinary structure, and which results management is still vigorous and grows with energy at present.Based on explaining the research paradigm of this paper and expurgating the disciplinary concept of management, management science and business management, the paper takes Common Management as research object, applies scientometrics approach and mapping knowledge domains approach to discuss the disciplinary structure of management, the relationship between management and its relevant disciplines. Accordingly, clarifies the evolution of management from two aspects, inner disciplinary structure and outer relevant disciplines. Results show that the relevant disciplines of management include social psychology, anthropology, political science, history science and industry economics, etc., and management is mostly relevant to psychology, sociology, economics and mathematics (specially on applied mathematics). The impact by psychology is weaken on management during the recent ten years. "Organizational behavior theory", "organization theory", and "strategic management theory" formed three dominant theories orderly in the process of management evolution.In order to explore the evolution of management, the paper divides the data during 1956 to 2005 into 5 periods, and reveals the disciplinary characteristics in each period through applying the knowledge mapping of science approach. Till now, management experienced three great changes, "from experience to science", "from behavior science to strategy management", "from organization change to knowledge management". According to the theory fronts in management and the characteristics of time, the paper concludes that the perception psychology and social network theory should play important role in the future of management.